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Sometimes it seems as though Drew Doughty, one of the most talented defencemen currently playing the game, can do nothing right.

When Steve Yzerman named him to Team Canada for the 2010 Olympics as a barely 20-year-old, the selection was seen as a stretch, especially for a Games being played at home. Paired with Duncan Keith, Doughty of course was a big reason for Canada’s gold medal victory.

When he signed an eight-year, $56 million deal after a holdout last fall, the pressure was on, and then compounded after Doughty appeared to regress during the first half of the season.

And then in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final here on Saturday night, he scored one of the highlight goals of this playoff season and twitter flamed in outrage at those who dared compare the play to Bobby Orr.

Sometimes, it seems, the young man can’t win for winning.

But the youngest NHLer ever selected to a Canadian Olympic team has played a massive role in putting the Kings two wins away from a franchise-first Stanley Cup title following Saturday’s 2-1 overtime at the Prudential Center.

Doughty’s goal at 7:49 of the first period, showed the undeniable offensive upside, a big reason it’s tough to keep your eyes off of him when he’s on the ice.

“It was a 200-foot play, one of those coast-to-coast things that people are going to look at for a long time,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said afterward. “Win or lose, it was a great play.”

Whatever happened to him earlier in the season, Doughty has regained his stride these playoffs. In Game 1, the Devils at times seemed transfixed by the speed in which he moves the puck, a skill that thwarted their forecheck. In Game 2, he scored the goal that at least suppressed the strong start that New Jersey showed as they desperately tried to get back in the series.

With Doughty as one of the principals, a big reason this series is looking done even though it is just two overtime games old is because the Kings’ top players are outplaying the supposed stars on the Devils. On Saturday, the Doughty beauty was joined by Jeff Carter’s OT shot while on the other side, Devils captain Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk remained invisible.

On a virtual end-to-end rush in the first period - and yes it brought back memories of No. 4 - Doughty undressed forward Ryan Carter was partially hooked by forward Stephen Gionta then used Bryce Salvador as a screen as he unleashed a wrist shot that beat Marty Brodeur stick side.

If the Devils win, all people are talking about as the series heads back to Los Angeles on Monday is the huge glove saves Brodeur made all night. But Doughty showed his hockey smarts by going the other way.

“I was afraid of Marty’s glove,” Doughty said when asked about the direction.

It wasn’t always so easy for him over the past eight months. For the first time in his career, Doughty fought rather than embracing the hefty expectations placed on him with the new contract and the Kings’ Stanley Cup vision.

His points were down and he struggled defensively but when Sutter replaced Terry Murray behind the bench, things began to change.

“I think the expectations that are put on him, they’re not real,” Sutter said following Saturday’s morning skate. “It’s not like he’s 30 year old and been in the league for 10 years. Because he’s an offensive player and a high-paid player, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that.”

If anything, Doughty was ticked at himself for letting his situation get to him. Through his minor hockey days in London, Ont. and his junior career in Guelph, it wasn’t an issue. And if he was feeling the heat in Vancouver, who could tell?

“I think I definitely felt the pressure,” Doughty, the Kings second pick overall in the 2008 draft, said earlier this week. “Missing camp obviously wasn’t a good thing, I wasn’t happy I had to do that and I definitely wasn’t myself. Throughout the year, I had to live up to expectations. I signed the biggest contract on the team. If you’re doing that, you have to be the best player on the team.

“I wanted to do that, the pressure got to me and I wasn’t myself.”

He is now though, once again thriving at the highest level and embracing the challenge of expectation.

“The game is slowing down for me,” Doughty said. “I can see those seams open up, I can see plays developing before they happen. I just figured it out that I need to forget about it and just play the way.

“Once I started to have fun out there, that’s when I hit my stride. Now I’m feeling good.”